The number of electronic systems in vehicles is continually increasing. Sequential introduction of additional new electronic vehicle systems is foreseeable. Because the effects of the individual systems are not independent of each other, significant additional uses can be derived from synergies obtainable by interconnection of the various electronic systems in the vehicle. A technical foundation for overcoming complexity in the implementation of system interconnection in electronic vehicle systems is presented in the SAE paper 980200 “CARTRONIC—an Open Architecture for Networking the Control Systems of an Automobile,” presented at the International Congress in Detroit, Mich., on Feb. 23, 1998. The paper presents an open control architecture for the entire vehicle. It is possible to implement this control architecture in an electronic driver-vehicle system composed of components for carrying out control tasks in the vehicle, as is described in German Patent Application No. 41 11 023 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,776). In this context, the control tasks relate to the vehicle motion and/or the drive train, and the components included coordinate the cooperation of the components for the control tasks. The components are arranged in a plurality of levels in a hierarchy, in accordance with the vehicle topology. At least one coordination component of a hierarchy level acts upon the components of the next hierarchy layer, and therefore, upon a subsystem of the driver-vehicle system, in response to converting the driver's input request into a corresponding operational performance, making available for the subsystem the performance used by the higher hierarchy-level. The coordination components are distinguished for the entire vehicle, the drive train, and the motion of the vehicle, with each of the subsystems coordinating its own subsystems.
In general, a system of the type described above is superimposed on a general, i.e., standardized, real-time operating system. A standard operating system of this type is, for example, ERCOS or OSEK, i.e., OSEK/VDX. OSEK/VDX, which is described in the Binding Specification, Version 1.0 dated Jul. 28, 2000. This open system, along with its interfaces for the electronics in the vehicle, forms the basis for the superimposed system. A comparable real-time operating system, as is described above, is ERCOS, which is described in German Patent Application No. 195 00 957.
Heretofore, it has been customary to employ embedded software solutions for controlling the operating sequences of a vehicle, superimposing them on the real-time operating system.
In this context, applications-specific functions, basic system functions, core functions, as well as the corresponding driver software, i.e., the specific basis functions, interact with both the different operating functions and with the partial operating functionalities, which determine the actual operating performance of the vehicle. Changes in functions or the subsequent addition of functions caused by software solutions that are interconnected in this manner, permit very complex system configurations to arise, especially with regard to the interfaces.
The addition of new functions in such systems is optimized in accordance with the present invention.